A month or two ago, I posted that people should give double force organizations a try. I don't really have an agenda (ie, a secret I-win-list just waiting for some sucker to allow me to use it, really I don't)

I just think the points will balance out most lists anyway, and I think some armies will find better balance - I have had lists where I maxed out heavy, fast, and troops, and had to take elite simply because I had points left over.

Anyway, most tournament people apparently didn't agree with me, and GW apparently noticed that people were not buying into the double force org idea, so they made the new Space Marine Codex.

According to this codex, you can take one chapter, and then take a different chapter as allies. Granted, this is not exactly double force org, but it does give you an extra HQ, 2 Troop, Heavy, Fast, and Elite - given a 2000 to 2500 game, you will probably run out of points before running out of slots.

I wonder if tournament organizers will start letting other armies ally to themselves, as a limited double force org (and I admit the idea of facing 4 Heldrakes is daunting enough, forget about 6... although at that point, are 2 more Heldrakes really going to make a difference?)

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Tonight I tried out the Kill Team rules from Heralds of Ruin. I have to say, if you haven't checked them out, you really should. The rules are simple, easy to follow and all work to keep the game fairly quick-paced.

The teams are set up as small 250 point squads using adjusted kill team lists (basically codexes) for each army. Each list does an excellent job of maintaining the flavor of the army. I can not speak to overall balance of the lists, but we played a game pitting Dark Angels against Chaos Space Marines and I can say that these two lists seemed balanced.

The rules definitely keep the game fast-paced and are very easy to follow while making the actions of the models seem heroic. The game we played took just over an hour and that was including set-up, tear down, and having to refer to the rules. I think once you become familiar with the rules, games should be closer to 30-45 minutes.

So for those of you who want a shorter game, or perhaps just don't have the money to spend on larger armies, this is definitely worth a try. And incidentally, for those that are curious, my Angels won the day!

Thursday, August 22, 2013

So far everything I have been hearing about the new SM codex sounds like the playing field has been leveled like in other codices for 6th. There is some cool stuff and there is some crap, but it is the same kinda crap for all armies.

It kind of reminds me of the 80's cartoon "Centurions".

The new Centurion units sound interesting, but they don't have me in a fervor. The new rules on Chapter Tactics (Every chapter has their own Special Rules, MYO Chapters get to select from a list) has me very interested/hopeful.

However the things that has killed me the most are the new rules for Special Characters and Allied requirement. It seems like it's the only thing inconsistent between previous SM codices and the spirit of the SM as an army)
You will no longer be able to field mixed SM armies without resorting to an allied detachment.
So, no more can you have a Salamander Tactical squad, an Ultramarine Tactical squad and Lysander in your fielded SM army. Unlike previous versions, You can't have a "count as" Vulkan unless your fielding Salamanders for your primary or allied detachment.

For those of us with Non-traditional/non-popular armies this is horrible news. I'm concerned there won't be something to console the vast majority of SM players that field MYO chapters or, even like myself, that fields a very obscure codex chapter.

What happened to "So perfect is their understanding of Guilliman's tactics that any grouping of battle brothers can fight side by side each knowing how to finish the job."?

Actually I'm more upset for players like myself. I field Red Wolves. I like fielding Red Wolves. Mostly because they're not Space Wolves. However, MYO chapters will probably get some concept like "Pick which army yours will be a clone of". Obscure chapters, even the ones that get mentioned in the codex, will probably be forgotten. We'll be forced to make our chapter a clone too, just to get the Characters. And that's what will probably happen. All of these Non-"top 6" armies will be able to field any chapter character(s) by "This game they're Ultras, Next game they'll be Raven Guard".

Personally I think that GW is trying to sell more of it's chapter specific stuff, but it won't go the way they're planning. Not for the most part anyhow.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Josef here and I'm going to bring some exciting things here. A little about myself first of all. I've been playing Warhammer 40k for several years now, along with Warmachine, Dropzone Commander and some Dreadball from time to time. I'm currently playing Space Wolves (For Russ!) and collecting Dark Eldar for some kicks. I'm currently more into the painting side of the hobby, spending many hours in the week to finish another squad (or two if I'm lucky).

I will be bringing some battle reports and tournament results from our local game stores around here along with some news of upcoming events. I'm glad I'll be apart of this blog, I hope I can bring exciting news!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

As you have seen a few changes have come to the Lion's Angels. I have
added new contributors and will likely be expanding the list of
contributors even further. Change is good! All hail Tzeentch!

You can also look forward to an actual gallery page...now with photos! And I will likely begin doing a couple of regular articles on a monthly basis to include more Battle Reports/Stories and maybe a Tactica article as I get more experience running the boys in green.

Finally, you can expect a name change in the near future to better reflect our more expanded focus on Warhammer 40k in general as opposed to just a focus on Dark Angels and Chaos.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

I was talking to KarateKid about double force org recently, because I heard that the Golden Throne tournament was going to allow it - the first tournament of its size to do so. What struck me as funny is that when 6th edition came out, a lot of people didn't like allies, but allies were allowed - because it was part of the rules. Double-Force org is also explicitly allowed in the rules, like allies, but it was almost universally rejected.

There was a lot of debate about whether Forgeworld was REALLY official, and it was still more accepted than double-force org.

I understand that there are some silly combinations that are possible with double force org, but there are some pretty silly combinations available with allies and Forgeworld as well.

In the Golden Throne Tournament, according to this BOLS article, only one of the top 8 had a double force org (and each of them played against multiple double force armies to get there).

Although I cannot speak from experience, because no one plays double force org around here, I suspect, since the books are written with the understanding that allies and double-force org are part of the game, that GW balances the new books around those rules (I know there are cynics who would argue that I am giving GW too much credit, but who knows).

Anyway, this is my argument to give double force org a try, or at least try to build a list, and see if you can make it as unbalanced as you think (better to play it) - I am betting that the extra HQ and two troops eat enough points that even if you make a killer combo, there will be some weakness that can be exploited by an opponent (assuming an all comer's list).

It has always been true that some armies only had one competitive list. Allies helped us get away from that a little, but some armies are fairly limited in allies that they can take and, even for the others, there are only so many army combinations (because there are only so many armies to combine with). I think that double force org is the next step in creating an environment without net-lists, because it makes more possible combinations than allies alone.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

This is Himkano from http://descentofangel.blogspot.com/. I am going to be joining KarateKid and Dan Wolf as a contributor to this blog. While I am keeping my old site up, as an archive of old posts about CSM, Blood Angels, Eldar, and Grey Knights, my new posts will be here.

I have played several different armies over my last 8 years of playing 40k. Currently I am playing Blood Angels, Grey Knights, and Eldar.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

As you can see marketers are good at cleaning
the smog out of photos of Atlanta.

So Karatekid and I were talking today and now I'm a contributor. I live in the Atlanta area and have a totally different group of people to play with and different culture to play in. I am originally from Phoenix.

That's enough of that.

I am more of a hobbyist than a player. But I do enjoy playing. Also, most of my Warhammer friends have moved to Phoenix or Seattle. With that being the case I started a War-gaming Club at my University. Well, it's not my University, I just attend classes there.

I have The Devil Facebook pages to use as photo galleries of my armies and how to guides of making terrain, mods, and other things. I am certainly not the best out there, but I have won painting competitions. So, I can't be too bad.

Attached are some links to these SoulCrusher Facebook pages and our School's War-gaming club page. Please, check them out! You know, cause it would be nice and stuff.